


Like An Angel

by aka_noodle



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2839823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aka_noodle/pseuds/aka_noodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never expected her to say yes. When she did he was thrilled, but now his time's almost up. He has to go soon, but how does he explain this to his team? To Batman? How are you supposed to tell the people you care about most that you're not even human?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Somewhere unknown to mortals there is a place of pure light and love and happiness. Some mortals call it heaven; all I know is in this place a little boy with raven black hair and bright blue eyes sits on something that isn't there and looks at everything that ever was and everything that could ever be.

I smile when I see him there, lost in thought, and sit down beside him. He looks up at me when I sit and smiles. This boy's smiles are the warmest and most wonderful I've ever seen. Then the young boy speaks; “Did you ever think there could be something more?”

More? I looked at him, surprised; I don’t understand what he meant, what more was there? I decide to ask him, “More? What do you mean more?”

“More than this. More than this life. More.” He elaborates and suddenly I understand what he meant.

“You're not thinking what I think you're thinking?” I ask, even though I already know what the answer will be. He knows I know, so he sees no need to answer me.

“Please,” he begs. He also knows that I can give him what he wants. I sigh inwardly, I could never say no to those eyes or that smile, to the boy that I loved so much. But there are rules; I can’t give him everything that he desire.

I look down at the young boy who is waiting expectantly for me to give him my answer. I know I can’t keep him waiting so I came up with a compromise. “Alright, fine. I'll give you fourteen years. No more, no less. Then you have to come back.” I wait for him to respond, I know the time limit I set is short, but I couldn’t let him go for too long.

“Thank you,” the boy replies with a wide grin on his face as he reaches his arms up around my neck, pulling me into a hug.

Now I had made a promise I couldn't get out of. I just needed to figure out how to carry it out...or get him to change his mind.


	2. Chapter One

25th February (16 years later)

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The red headed boy awoke at the sound of the alarm and opened his eyes groggily. He reached out a hand to turn of the continuous noise of the alarm clock but only succeeded in knocking it off of the bedside table and onto the floor. He closes his eyes and blinks a few times before opening them fully and taking in the messy bedroom that surrounded him. Sitting up on the edge of the bed he reached for his alarm clock and pressed the off switch before lying back down and falling asleep again.

He did not wake again until nearly four hours later. This time to his mother calling him down for lunch. He looked over at the, now slightly dented, alarm clock and saw the time. He quickly sat up and got out of bed as fast as he good, throwing his sheets to the floor in the process, and runs across the landing, making it all the way to the top of the stairs before running back to his room to get changed, which he managed to do in less than a second. He ran back to across the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen, not wanting to put off his food any longer than necessary. He was still struggling to believe he’d slept in all the way until lunchtime, I guess last night’s mission really took a lot out of me.

He sat down at the dining table in the centre of the warm kitchen and almost immediately his mum placed a large plate of food in front of him. He devours the meal in no more than half a minute before bringing the plate to the kitchen sink to rinse it.

“Thanks Mum. Gotta run,” is all he says to her and Wally is gone before his mother gets a chance to respond.

He runs down the streets in a red and yellow blur, thankful that he did in fact remember to change before setting off on this occasion. As he ran he felt the wind running through his hair and enjoyed a sense of freedom that most people would never get the chance to.

Before he knows it he’s arrived at the alley way he was looking for. Wally looks around him at the quiet streets to check for any passers-by who might see him before he enters the alley. About half way down there is an old battered phone booth which clearly would not work for anyone who wanted to actually make a telephone call or at least that is what is would look like to any regular civilian who passed by. In truth the old phone booth was the Keystone City zeta point. A method of transportation used by the Justice League that no one else even knew of. He has another look around for any witnesses, taking in the quiet and calm of the February day before stepping into the phone booth. He presses a short number combination on the keypad and the booth filled with light.

A bright blue light moves up and down the phone booth, scanning the teenager before fading as a mechanical female voice announces; ‘Recognised Kid Flash B-0-3’. The phone booth fills with blue light again and Wally feels a sudden dizziness that he would never quite get used to. He closed his eyes against the brightness and when he opened them again he was no longer in a phone booth in Keystone City but now in Happy Harbour and, more specifically, Mount Justice.

Upon arrival at the mountain the first sound that hit him was a loud beeping which reminded him of his alarm clock but he recognised as the kitchen smoke alarm. He sighed to himself before following the smell of smoke and the sound of yelling to the kitchen, where he saw pretty much exactly what he had been expecting to see.

Smoke was billowing from the oven where Zatanna was removing what he could only imagine was supposed to be a tray of cookies for Megan, who was standing away from the oven and looking rather flustered. He supposed that was likely both from the heat of the oven and that she had just burnt another batch of supposed cookies. He ran up to the Martian and placed an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s alright beautiful, don’t cry over burnt cookies.”

Megan pushed him away from her and he couldn’t help but feel rather offended until he saw tears in her eyes.

“Did I say something wrong?”

He really hoped he hadn’t said something to upset the girl further, Superboy would kill him if he found out Wally had made his girlfriend cry.

“Yes actually, Baywatch,” he heard an all too familiar voice behind him. “You said more than one thing wrong just there.”

He turned to the doorway as Artemis stormed across the room towards them, her glare fixed on Wally.

“One,” she held up one finger for emphasis, “those were not cookies, they were cupcakes!”

Oops, Wally thought, should’ve seen that one coming.

“And two,” Artemis continued with her rant –what else did he say? - “You called Megan ‘beautiful’ despite the fact that you’re dating me.” –Oh, that.-

After finishing speaking Artemis stormed out of the kitchen and dropped down onto the sofa next to Superboy who was currently watching static on the TV despite the fact that this place had like five hundred different channels to choose from, not as many as Rob had at home, but still. Speaking of Robin, Wally noticed that he hadn’t seen the other boy since he had arrived here. He was certain that the thirteen year old had spent the night here so it felt rather odd that he hadn’t heard from his best friend yet.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Megan, whose state only seemed to have gotten worse, as she tried to hide a small sniffle. First thing’s first, he ran up to her and was jut opening his mouth to apologise for mistaking he cupcakes for cookies earlier, although it was an easy mistake to make, when she interrupted him.

“It’s alright Wally; it’s not your fault.”

“It isn’t?” He asked, slightly relieved as he looked around the room for anyone else whose fault it could have been.

“No, I don’t know what made me start crying like this. I was fine until we got back from the mission last night, but then I started getting really upset all of a sudden and I haven’t been feeling quite myself since then.” Megan explained.

Zatanna stepped forward; the young magician had clearly been listening to what the other girl had been telling him. “Do you think it might be possible that they’re not your emotions?” she asked the Martian.

Megan and Wally both gave the girl questioning looks so she elaborated on her idea. “What if you’ve been accidentally picking up on someone else’s emotions with you telepathic abilities? It would explain why there’s not obvious cause to the way you’re been feeling.”  
Megan looked thoughtful for a second, and then looked away from them, blushing. “I suppose that could be possible,” she said, not meeting either of their eyes, “but if that’s true then whose emotions are they?”

That was a good question. Wally began thinking through all the people who had been at the mountain since last night; there was Megan, but obviously she didn’t count; Superboy, unlikely but still a possibility; Zatanna herself, she was likely to get upset with her dad and all but he would be surprised if there was that much of a change because of her; and then of course there was-

Before Wally was able to finish thinking through all the possibilities the three of them were interrupted. This time it was by Robin entering the kitchen. He gave them his usual wide smile upon entering the room, there was something about it that was different from usual, like he wasn’t fully into it, but Wally quickly dismissed thee thoughts as soon as the younger boy started speaking.

“Hey KF, I’ve got my new game all set up in my room and plenty of snacks prepared. Let the video game marathon begin.”

At that, Wally and his best friend gave each other matching grins and ran off towards the younger’s room, Wally not giving the previous events of that morning another thought.


	3. Chapter Two

3rd March

The bioship arrived at its destination and hovered above a really dark, creepy forest, because apparently the bad guys had decided to go and be really cliché today. The team were there because there had been some trouble in that area and it was believed that Klarion was behind it, Kid Flash really hated that guy. The team had been sent rather than a league member since Dr Fate was too busy to show up and, other than him, the team had the most experience dealing with the so called lord of chaos.

‘Is everybody online?’ Wally smiled as M’gann’s voice filled his head and everybody gave their various responses.

‘Yes, Megan.’ Zatanna.

‘I am online.’ Aqualad.

‘I’m here.’ Artemis.

‘Yes.’ Superboy, sounding as impatient as ever.

‘Right here, Miss M.’ Robin.

And finally Kid Flash; ‘Sure am, beautiful,’ Kid Flash thought over the mind link before he even realised what he was saying. Unfortunately for him, Artemis did realise and he got a slap on the back of his head for his stupidity. ‘Sorry, all habits die hard.’ He rubbed the back of his head, almost certain that the girl had hit him unnecessarily hard on purpose and that he was going to end up with a bruise later.

After that things got a bit boring for a while, Aqualad started giving out orders, or, as Kid Flash liked to think of them, helpful suggestions, about what they needed to do this mission and Wally started checking the compartments in his suit to see if he had eaten that candy bar he had earlier, unfortunately he had. What? He had a short attention span; it comes with being a speedster.

Finally Aqualad was finished talking and the team was able to move. Robin disappeared into the shadows and Kid Flash got the general impression that they were splitting up to look for signs of Klarion. He sped off in a different direction from the others and began looking for anything unusual.

He had already covered a large area of forest when he heard Artemis over the mind link. ‘Me and Superboy have found something. There are a group of armed men hanging around our area. Looks like they’re waiting for something.’

‘Alright, babe. I’m on my way.’ Kid Flash didn’t bother listening to the others responses as he sped off in the direction Artemis had gone, finding her and Superboy in no time despite the fact he hadn’t exactly been listening when Aqualad told him where to go earlier. Most of the others had somehow gotten there before him anyway. It constantly made him wonder why even with his super speed he tended to be last to show up for anything –unless his Uncle Barry was there, that way he might just make second last. They were gathered behind a group of thick trees where it would be hard to see them from the nearby clearing but where they could have a good view of what was going on.

Artemis was right about what was going on. There were a group of men standing around, all in black and all carrying weapons of some kind, mostly guns. They didn’t appear to be guarding anything in particular but did appear to be on high alert.

Kid Flash immediately realised there was something wrong. For one thing they were supposed to be here for Klarion but Klarion didn’t general use armed humans to do his dirty work. That was worrying, but not quite as much as the fact that Klarion didn’t appear to be here. Wally hoped that maybe it wasn’t Klarion behind this and that this was just some ordinary criminal and not a super villain at work.

That hope flickered out quickly when he glanced back at the men however. Sitting on a large rock behind them was a large, striped ginger cat and its demonic red eyes were staring directly at the team’s hiding place.

Kid Flash glared at the feline which seemed to glare back at him. Klarion didn’t go anywhere without his cat, Teekl, so if it was here then so was he. He nudged Artemis’ side and pointed at the animal. The rest of the team noticed too and saw the cat looking at them. It didn’t seem to react or make any attempt to alert the men to their presence, in fact it, like the men, appeared to be waiting for something.

‘Kid Flash; keep one eye on the cat.’ Aqualad’s voice sounded in his mind and he nodded his acknowledgement, not looking away from the animal. ‘We need to find out what they’re doing here and find out where Klarion is. If the cat’s here, so is he.’

Aqualad nodded at Robin, who smiled at them then seemed to disappear into the shadows. Clearly the boy wonder had gone to take a closer look at what the men were doing while the rest of the figured out a plan of action. Kid Flash kept looking at the cat.

He was certain the animal was glaring at him now, even if he hadn’t seen it change shape under Klarion’s power, there was no way he that thing was just an animal. It was intelligent and dangerous. It knew they were there and Kid Flash was certain that if it wanted to it would find a way of alerting Klarion or the armed men to their presence behind the trees. Of course, that would be to ignore the blatant possibility that it already had. The cat appeared to smile and Wally knew that something was wrong even before the trees in front of him started glowing red and were pulled from the ground roots and all.

There was a moment of silence in the clearing as the men took in the group of teenage superheroes who had been watching behind the trees and Kid Flash noticed the witch boy who had suddenly appeared behind his familiar, though knowing Klarion it was entirely possible he had been there the whole time.

There the men opened fire and Klarion dropped the trees down on top of the teenagers. The effect of the trees falling protected them from most of the bullets rather than crushing the teens as seemed to be the sorcerer’s intention but it did a lot to add to the chaos of the situation which Kid Flash was certain Klarion would only be too happy about.

Kid ran amongst the chaos, avoiding bullets as best he could and picking up the blonde archer who he set back down away from the hail of fire. The team set to work fighting the men as Klarion watched in glee. Kid Flash glanced around for Robin, but could not see his best friend anywhere amongst the fighting. Assuming the younger boy was probably hiding safely away and waiting for his moment to strike, Kid Flash focused on Klairon.

The sorcerer was standing on the rock upon which his familiar had watched the heroes just minutes before, watching the scene play out. He wasn’t even looking in Kid Flash’s direction as he watched the fighters and threw trees around in every direction, not caring if they were heading towards friend or foe.

Kid took his opportunity, speeding towards Klarion and hoping to knock him off the rock and, if possible, knock the cat from his arms. Just at the last moment before he reached the witch boy Teekl turned to face him and Kid Flash knew what its smile meant but it was too late to stop. Klarion turned and lifted the young speedster into the air, before throwing him towards the rest of the fighters.

The rest of the team kept fighting furiously as Robin appeared at Kid Flash’s side, helping him up and assessing him for injuries. Kid Flash rolled his eyes at the concern etched into his friend’s face. “I’m fine, Rob. Let’s get back to fighting these guys.” The boy wonder grinned and nodded. They were just about to head back to the others when Kid Flash noticed Klarion staring at them.

Kid Flash would have prepared for an attack but there was something off about the lord of chaos’ expression. He looked shocked, in fact, if Kid didn’t know better, he’d say the Klarion looked almost scared.

There was a loud screeching noise and the fighting stopped as the sound hit everyone’s ears. Kid Flash held his hands to his ears as he realised the noise came from Klarion himself.

“NO!” the witch boy shrieked, “No, this isn’t fair!” Now everyone around us was staring at him in confusion, everyone except Robin, but Kid supposed the constant poker face was part of being a bat.

“I refuse to fight one of your kind!” Now Kid Flash was certain Klarion was just being downright crazy or crazier than usual at least. He’d never refused to fight anyone before, so what was his problem? Kid Flash looked over at Robin to see what he was making of all this. He kept up the poker face but Kid could almost feel him rolling his eyes behind the mask.

After that Klarion picked up Teekl and disappeared. It seemed a rather anticlimactic end to the battle if Kid Flash was being honest but after the witch boy was gone it didn’t take the team long to sort out the hired help.

The team went back to the bioship to head back to the mountain. For the most part they were chatting and laughing at what had happened with Klarion, although a few members of the team kept quiet. Superboy was just being his usual self and Aqualad was probably thinking about the mission report he’d have to give Batman later but Kid was surprised to see Robin so quiet. He watched the boy wonder for most of the trip back and couldn’t help but feel concerned himself at the worry in his friend’s face.

He decided to ask the younger boy what was up as soon as they got back to the mountain but when they did get there he disappeared through the zeta to Gotham before Wally had the opportunity to speak with him. Batman was waiting for their reports in the mission room and Wally guiltily glad that it was Kaldur who had to explain to Batman what had happened and not him.


	4. Chapter Three

6th March

Teekl sat on a plush arm chair in the corner of the dark room, watching as her master paced back and forth in the small, still raving over events that had happened whole days before. Honestly she couldn’t really see the point in it all.

That isn’t to say she wasn’t surprised to see the truth, of course she hadn’t been expecting that, but it really made little difference to her so why bother with it. Klarion was another story however. The young heroes had never been too troublesome to them before and the witch boy had enjoyed the occasional game with them but now, Teekl noticed, he seemed to see them as a real threat. Perhaps that was inaccurate though. It wasn’t the team as a whole who were a danger to her master but rather the single boy.

Klarion was as worried at the possible danger less than he was frustrated at the fact he hadn’t seen it before. Of course it made little sense that he was there, his kind generally stayed out of the affairs of mortals, which could explain why they had not realised. However Teekl and Klarion both had heightened senses to these things which should have alerted them the moment they first saw the boy.

“That’s it!” Klarion spoke suddenly and Teekl could do little to prevent her fur standing on end in hock at the sudden noise in what had been a near silent room. She looked at her master and waited to see what he had finally decided to do about the situation, hopefully it wouldn’t be something too stupid, as much as she cared for him she could not stand how immature and foolish the boy could sometimes be.

Klarion turned to Teekl to explain what he was going to do, she was glad of him running his plans by her first even though he rarely listened to her input on these matters.

“I shall contact the other members of the Light, what remains of it anyway, and inform them of the truth.” Teekl looked at her master questioningly, she did not see the point in contacting the others, they would only want to use him in their childish schemes and they had no idea how to handle one of his kind. She licked her lips as she thought of her last encounter with one of them, she could still remember the way the feathers tickled the inside of her mouth.

“I shall tell them what he is and convince them to capture him, I’m sure I can make up a reason why when it gets to that and then, when we have it, we can set my own plans into motion.”

Now Teekl was curious, what plans were these?

She sat up straighter to listen to the boy and he smiled at her attentiveness. “Once he is captured by us, with no one to save him he will turn to his last option. He will ask the others for help and of course they will come right to us Right into our trap.” Teekl purred appreciatively and rubbed against his side, she certainly liked this new plan. As formidable as they could be, if they had a plan and were properly prepared the angels would be theirs for the taking.

The two of them worked for hours on their plan, paying little notice to the time passing. Teekl made it clear to her master how prepared they must be in order to pull this off and, after only a few tantrums, he listened to his familiar’s ideas and took Teekl’s opinions into account.

Now Klarion stood in the dimly lit room, staring up at the screen where a group of white figures waited for him to begin. Teekl had insisted he prepare exactly what he wanted to say to the Light if he were to be successful but she did not truly expect the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos to stick to it in the slightest.

“What is it you want now, Klarion?” a deep voice asked through the speaker system and Teekl’s fur stood on end for the second time that night, she would never get quite used to this human technology and neither would Klarion she noted by the way he jumped slightly at the sound, she was glad they would not be able to tell his reaction from the other side of their screens.

“Yes,” a woman’s voice this time, “We have little time to waste on your antics, especially after what happened just days ago.” Of course, Klarion had not even given them the details of the events of three days ago but already they were berating him for it. She glared up at the bright silhouette she believed the voice to have come from.

Klarion looked outright affronted at the way they spoke to him, but continued none the less; when he spoke it was with a little more ice in his voice than was usual for him.

“Actually, it is about that night that I wish to speak with you.” The other members of the Light seemed to regard him curiously. Klarion was, after all, not one to make excuses for failures; he was more of a sulker to be completely honest.

“That night I confronted the Justice League’s little covert team and discovered something I had not been expecting to see. It shocked me and I feared for Teekl’s safety so of course I had to leave.” Teekl rolled her eyes, why did he have to bring her into his cowardice?

The Light appeared to take a moment to let this sink in, before the first one with the deep voice spoke up again. “And what,” there was a humour to his tone with annoyed Teekl to no end, “exactly did you discover?”

Klarion’s glare at the screens intensified to match Teekl’s and she felt a slight pleasure as he turned slightly away from the deep voiced one to continue speaking.

“It seems one of the heroes is not what he claims to be. The boy who is supposed to be completely human is not.”

She began to purr without even realising it. The way Klarion was keeping the other villains in suspense about the situation was truly entertaining to watch and she could almost feel their frustration, even through the screens.

Another of them spoke this time; clearly he hoped to have more success at speaking to her master. “I suppose you mean Robin then, him and the archer are the only humans on the team, unless you’re getting human genders confused.” Teekl wasn’t sure whether she liked this man or the former less. Perhaps once they were done with them she could convince her master to turn them into mice for their amusement, after all soon they would have enough power they would no longer need these people alive. “If you are right, then I would be very curious as to what you think he could be. There had been no evidence up until this point to suggest that he is not who he seems.”

It shouldn’t be that hard to convince Klarion if this was the way they would speak to her master. Klarion stepped forward, closer to the screens. “An angel.”

There was a moment of silence before a slight chuckle from one member of the Light. “Do you actually expect us to believe something so absurd Klarion?”

Klarion glared at the other light members furiously and suddenly Teekl truly wished they could see them. “It does not matter what you believe. It does not change the facts.”

Klarion seemed to calm slightly before he finished speaking. “And if you were to stop acting so childishly then perhaps I might allow you to know how you can use this fact to your advantage. After all, with so many defeats on each of you I’m sure you want any advantage you can gain over the heroes.”

Teekl felt herself purring again, loving the way all the villains went into stunned silence over Klarion’s insult.

“Very well,” a new voice spoke. Another man with a smooth voice, she recognised this one, he had suffered more defeats at the hands of the heroes than he would care to mention. “Tell us your plan for the…angel.”

Klarion smiled as he began to explain, and Teekl purred at the thought of what was to come.


	5. Chapter Four

9th March

Robin lay on his bed at the mountain, his room was plain here, and there was a distinct lack of personal effects. It was only logical he supposed, after all he couldn’t have the other members of the team knowing his identity. As much as it annoyed him he had to respect Bruce’s rules.

‘Not that they’ll matter for much longer.’

He sat up and looked around his room, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice he had just heard. There was nobody in there that he could see. He stood from the bed, grabbing a bird-a-rang from his nightstand, ready to defend himself if necessary. He walked around the edge of the bed slowly, it was dark in the room but there were still very view places anyone could hide in here. As he searched he tried not to think about the truth of the words he had just heard.

He turned to the wardrobe in the corner, opening the door cautiously, but found nothing inside. Not even his spare clothes or uniforms were in there. He couldn’t remember a time when the wardrobe had been that empty, he had taken all the things he would need to the mountain as soon as it was decided that it would become the team’s base of operations, even though he still spent most of his time at home in Gotham he always kept anything he would need here. So where had it gone?

He heard a noise behind him and turned to see the bedroom door closing. He turned to it and caught it just before it closed, but it was heavier than he remembered and he knew he couldn’t hold it for long. Robin slipped through the gap just before the door slammed shut; something told him that if he had waited just moments longer to step through the doorway he would have been practically crushed by the heavy door. There was something about that that wasn’t quite right but he didn’t have time to think about that now.

He looked both ways down the corridor but saw no sign of the intruder. After a moment he decided to turn right, after all that was the way to the main living area, at least he thought it was.

He walked down the corridor in near darkness. The lights would usually switch on as soon as someone was present in the area but he supposed that was due to some kind of power outage. He would have to ask someone about that later.

The corridor was long, it seemed almost endless and Robin was just starting to wonder if he had turned the wrong way and gotten lost somewhere when he reached a turn. The corridors crossed each other here and there were three different directions he could take. He was certain he should turn left so didn’t give the other pathways a second thought.

The corridor continued for a long time, this was just as endless as the last. It was still dark and only seemed to get darker as they moved. He wasn’t too worried about the darkness though. Other people might be scared but he had no reason to be, bats were creatures of the night themselves after all.

‘But you’re not a bat are you?’

He stopped walking as he heard that voice again.

‘…not even a bird really.’

He looked around him but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He couldn’t understand what was going on and suddenly he was scared. He clutched the bird-a-rang harder in his fist but let go seconds after. He hissed in pain as his only weapon dropped to the floor, lost in the darkness. He held his hand up to look at the deep cut on his palm, blood covered his entire hand, too much blood, he wasn’t sure how long it would take but he was certain that if it didn’t stop bleeding soon he could pass out or even die from the blood loss.

‘You really need to be more careful you know. If you keep getting hurt like that you’ll be late and then no one will be happy.’

Late? He thought. Late for what?

The voice was closer now, louder to his ears and he was just standing around in the dark, completely defenceless. What was he thinking?

He ran then, ran in the direction he had previously been walking. He came to another cross in the halls and this time kept running straight on. He didn’t know where he was trying to get to or whether this route would take him there.

The corridors kept on going, endlessly which constant twists and turns that left the boy wonder completely disorientated. And all the while he could hear the vice. He couldn’t tell what it was saying now but it kept talking to him, right behind him, getting closer and closer.

Then he heard laughter. Laughter and voices chatting from the darkness ahead. He picked up speed, running towards the voices of his friends.

Then he was in the main room and the voice that had been following him was gone. It was dark here too but he could make out the figures of his teammates in front of him. They turned to him, laughing and smiling; they didn’t seem to pay any notice to the fact that the younger boy was dressed only in his pyjamas and covered in his own blood. They all didn’t stop smiling and Robin wondered what they were all so excited about.

Then Megan came out of the kitchen. She had a cake in her hands, decorated with candles. Was it someone’s birthday? He was sure he would remember if it was. He couldn’t remember whose birthday it might be. His friends gathered around him and Megan stood in front of him holding the cake out towards him and he looked away. He didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to see the beautifully decorated cake with fourteen candles and his name written down the middle.

It was his birthday and his friends were celebrating, excited. They didn’t understand, they didn’t know what this day really meant for him. He had to get out of there but they would let him go. He pulled away from the crowd they were creating around him and pushed past them towards the door. He was nearly there when he felt a hand grip his arm.

He turned to see Wally holding onto him, stopping him from leaving. He looked up at his best friend, prepared to tell him not to worry, that he just needed some air, but his friend’s expression stopped him from doing so.

He was angry. Wally looked so furious and Robin had no idea why. He turned to look at his other friends, looking for help, or at least some explanation but they looked as angry as Wally did.

‘How could you?’ he heard Artemis’ voice from the darkness.

‘You liar!’ He would not have believed the harshness of Kaldur’s tone if he had not heard it for himself.

What was going on? Why were they suddenly so angry at him? He couldn’t understand any of it.

He felt hot tears stinging his cheeks as the situation overwhelmed him. He was beginning to feel strangely drowsy, which he supposed was from the blood loss in his hand.

He pulled away from the others, closer to the doorway. Robin wrestled his arm from Wally’s grip, ignoring the pain in his hand as it slipped through Wally’s fingers. He watched as his friends gathered around him, anger coming off them in waves. He felt a soft touch on his cheek but the comfort was momentary and he wrapped his wings closer and closer around him, putting some kind of barrier between him and the assault from the people he thought were his friends.

Then he felt a tugging, he watched as hands grabbed at his wings, pulling out feathers. The grip on them got stronger and stronger and he was certain his wings would get ripped from his body if this continued. And then they were.

Pain poured from his back as flesh and bone were torn apart and Robin curled in on himself as blood and feathers coated the floor around him.

There was a warm bright light behind him and it lit up the scene in front of him. It wasn’t just the team anymore, but other people he cared about; Barbara and Alfred were there. And so was Bruce. No, not Bruce, the Batman. Or was it Bruce, it was hard to tell and Robin couldn’t understand why.

He looked into his guardians eyes, begging the man who had saved him for help. He didn’t know what hurt more; the emotionless gaze of the Batman staring back at him or the way it seemed to transform to disappointment in Bruce Wayne’s blue eyes.

He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the faces of the people he cared about or the awful pain in his hand and his back.

‘How could you do this, son?’

Bruce’s voice. Except it wasn’t, it sounded like Bruce but it really wasn’t. He recognised it the voice from earlier. He knew it as the voice of his real father.

He was sure he was about to be sick right then.

He stumbled backwards and felt himself consumed by the hot bright light.

Dick Grayson opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He was lying in bed, but not his bed at the mountain. He hadn’t been to Mount Justice since his last training session days before, he recalled. He was in his room at Wayne Manor. He lay his head back down and felt the pillow wet from hi tears. It was just a nightmare. It hadn’t happened. Not yet. He glanced at the alarm clock and saw the time, just after midnight. It was officially 9th March, just twelve days to go until his actual birthday. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly he felt sick again.


	6. Chapter Five

12th March

It had been over a week since the team’s last mission and Kid Flash had been feeling trapped. That’s not to say he didn’t love hanging out with his friends at the mountain, because of course he did, he just wanted to get out and do something other than training. It didn’t help that Flash had been off planet on a Justice League mission so he couldn’t go out in Central and Keystone on his own either.

He had spent most of the week either in school or at the mountain, but even Mount Justice was boring after days of not being able to go out and do anything. It had been as much of a relief to the rest of the team as it was to Kid himself when Batman announced that they finally had a new mission.

They sat in their usual seats on the bioship as they travelled to their destination; namely an apparently abandoned warehouse which was believed to be a base of operations for a group of drug traffickers. It was a basic recon mission, nothing complicated, not even super villains to fight. Nothing that should be able to go wrong. It made Kid Flash wonder how they were going to mess it up this time.

Let’s face it, the team had existed since last July and had had very few successful missions in this time. Sure New Year’s had gone well for the team and they had a bit of a streak of good missions right after but since that last mission with Klarion he was certain that they were going to end up going back to their old ways. So much for their mentors being proud of them.

They arrived at the warehouse with the bioship camouflaged and, after taking a look at their surroundings, Aqualad directed them to various locations where they were to go to stake out. As usual, Robin disappeared immediately and Kid Flash had little idea of where the other boy had gone, he wasn’t worried though; this was Robin after all.

Kid Flash found himself sitting on top of a nearby building and watching the back entrance of the warehouse. They were planning to watch what was going on for a while and if they didn’t see anything from the outside in the next couple of hours then they would head in and take a look around the inside. Covertly, of course.

The next couple of hours were destined to be, according to Kid Flash himself, the most boring hours of Kid Flash’s life. He had been so excited to get out and burn some energy on a mission but this was not what he wanted at all. He had spent the last two and a half hour sitting on the rooftop, watching the back of the warehouse and had seen absolutely nothing whatsoever. Well, that wasn’t quite true, the had seen a couple of birds flying by and a few bugs had bothered him on the roof but nothing useful, nothing relevant, not even anything human. At risk of sounding like a certain cartoon character; worst mission ever.

He was just planning to contact Kaldur to see if anything had happened around his other teammates when he heard a light thud of the rooftop behind him. He turned slowly, ready to defend himself from whatever was there.

Robin stood on the rooftop behind him, a slightly smirk on the younger boy’s face at Kid’s surprised reaction.

“Dude, don’t do that too me!” Kid Flash’s exclamation was in surprise at seeing his friend there. He had been worried it had been some villain. Honestly, he was surprised he heard anything at all since it was Robin. The younger boy was usually silent when he appeared like that, though Kid supposed his friend had looked a little out of it lately, he certainly hadn’t been getting as much sleep as usual, and that was saying something considering how little him and Bats slept in the first place.

Robin rolled his eyes at Kid Flash’s exclamation and moved on quickly to why he was there.

“Aqualad sent me to get you; nothing seems to be happening so we’re going to take a look inside.”

Kid Flash cheered on the inside, he absolutely hated just sitting around doing nothing and was glad to finally get moving again. He ran down to join the others back by the bioship, just as his friend disappeared, yet somehow the younger still managed to get back to the others before him. Letting out his signature cackle as his best friend arrived last again.

They decided to split up again and approach the warehouse from different entrances, that way if there was someone inside, they wouldn’t be able to get out one of the other exits if they heard a group of heroes coming. Kid Flash and Robin went up to the roof together.

Kid kept watch while the other boy worked on getting open the skylight as quietly as possible which, being a bat, meant with no noise whatsoever. Once the boy had got it open, the two of them dropped down onto the platform just below roof level with little noise.

Kid Flash could see Artemis and Aqualad coming in the side entrance from their perch but nothing much else. Not because the view was obscured, but because the warehouse itself was practically empty. Either the drug traffickers had left before they arrived or the information the Justice League had was wrong.

It had been a complete waste of time coming here but, Kid Flash supposed it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It’s not like anything’s gone particularly wrong after all.

Kid Flash was just turning to Robin to say what he was thinking aloud when the dark warehouse was lit up but a blinding bright light. Okay, definitely spoke to soon that time. Wally watched in shock as the light seemed to dim into one bright beam, he glanced down to see the other members of the team staring up at it to. Wally glanced to his best friend who was staring at the light and no longer even seemed to register his friends’ presence.

Then something really scary happened. The beam of light seemed to move across the warehouse getting closer and closer to the platform he and Robin were standing on. Kid Flash reached out to try and pull his best friend back away from the beam of light but before he could do anything it seemed to engulf the smaller boy completely. Kid cried out in shock as he watched the thirteen year old somehow lifted up by the intense light.

Robin struggled and tried to fight it. Kid wanted to help him, of course he did, but he had no idea what to do, no idea how to help the other boy.

“L-let me go.” It sounded like he was struggling to get the words out. Kid Flash looked around him for something he could use to get his friend to safety from whatever this was; he had to help him somehow.

“Not yet!” Robin shouted now and Kid Flash’s attention was directed solely on the boy in front of him. What was Robin talking about?

“I-I still have time.” He had never heard his best friend sound so panicked as right now.

“I don’t care!” Now it sounded like Robin was taking part in some kind of conversation he could only hear one end of, he glanced back down at the others but they seemed just as concerned and confused as he was at this turn of events.

“There’s over a week, just give me these last days.” Robin sounded broken now, sad. He just wanted to pull the boy wonder into a hug and hold him and make him feel better. But he couldn’t, he didn’t even know what was going on.

Then the beam of light disappeared and the warehouse seemed even darker than before. Before he had a chance to think about anything else Robin was falling. The light seemed to have pulled him away from the platform and now the younger boy was falling towards the floor of the warehouse. He wondered for a half a moment why Robin didn’t save himself with his grapple but then realised that he no longer looked conscious.

He let out a sigh of relief when Miss Martian reached out her hand and the boys fall slowed as the alien used her telekinesis to lower the boy to the floor, never had he been so glad to have her on their team.

He dashed down to join the other team members gathered around Robin on the warehouse floor. Robin certainly wasn’t conscious but Kid Flash was relieved to see he was still breathing. He wasn’t sure what he would do if they lost his best friend, and he didn’t even want to think about how Batman would react if he lost his partner, and more importantly, son.

Speaking of Batman he was again glad that Aqualad would be giving the mission report but now wondering what the older boy was actually going to say.

When they got back to the mountain Kid Flash was surprised to say the least when Kaldur straight up lied to Batman. He told the man his partner had fallen through a rusted platform and passed out when he hit the floor. Aquaman’s sidekick did not mention anything of strange beams of light but was otherwise truthful in his story. Luckily for them Batman seemed to accept that story, though Wally would be surprised if he didn’t give it further investigation.

Robin was taken straight to the infirmary and Batman had agreed that he could spend the night there tonight since he still hadn’t woken up. After the mission report Wally was keen to go straight to check up on his friend but it seemed Kaldur had other ideas. He insisted everyone stay behind after the briefing but didn’t give any more details of what it was about until they were all listening.

“We need to talk to Robin.” Wally was a strange mixture of surprised, relieved and annoyed that Kaldur was suggesting what Wally had intended to do anyway. “I believe he might know something more about what happened in the warehouse and we need to speak with him if we are to know exactly what is going on.”

Wally hadn’t thought of it like that but agreed none the less. He dashed off to the infirmary and, for once, was the first there, before his teammates. It didn’t make any difference though. When he turned on the light in the dark infirmary and glanced at the bed where they had left the boy wonder it didn’t take him long to realise that Robin was gone.


	7. Chapter Six

14th March

It had been two days since he had left the mountain. Two days since he had seen anyone he knew. Just one week left. He had to leave though.

They had tried to take him over a week early that night in the warehouse, had tried to make him go back when he wasn’t ready. That had been the wakeup call he needed though. He didn’t have long left any he couldn’t keep denying what he knew was going to happen. He had fourteen years, no more, no less and soon that time would be up.

He had things to do before he went though, things he could put off no longer. He had been avoiding people for the past few days, thinking on his life and what was best to do with his last week here.

He had visited a few old friends already. Said his goodbyes to them. Now there were just two places he had to go before he faced the main one. Before he went back to his friends, to Bruce. He still didn’t know what he was going to say to them, he needed to say good bye but he knew they would want an explanation and he didn’t know what to say to them or how to explain the truth of what he was, of why he had to go.

Dick ran his hands through his hair in frustration; he would go to the other places first before he built up the courage to talk to them. He knew he would have to eventually. He knew they wouldn’t just accept it if he disappeared with no explanation and, besides that, he knew he couldn’t leave the people he considered family without so much as a good bye.

He walked down the crowded streets of Keystone City, thinking of how close his best friend might be right now and yet Wally would have no idea he had even come here. In all honesty he didn’t really want to be so close to where he knew his best friend could be but he really had no choice. He wanted to say good bye to everyone and they were here. No one noticed him walking. He knew he looked school age and it was certainly during school hours at the moment but the people of Keystone were happy to look the other way and leave him be, something which the boy wonder was certainly thankful for.

The scenery around him changed and he came to a park, the fact that the fence surrounding it was covered in posters was a sign that he was in the right place. He found the main gates to the park and wandered up the wide pavement between the trees until he came to the main green.

Here was what he was looking for. He recognised the brightly painted caravans and striped tents from his childhood and sad to think that he had missed out on growing up somewhere so beautiful.

The show today wasn’t until the evening and the tent had already been here for a few days so the performers went about carrying out day to day tasks, some casting suspicious glances at him as he wandered through their circus grounds.

He reached the animal tent and wandered in, glancing around to make sure no one was there to see and stop him. There were only actually two people at Haly’s that he wanted to see today, Pop Haly himself and of course- “Zitka!”

He hurried forwards when he saw the massive elephant. He reached towards her, and she smelled his hand before letting him stroke her trunk.

“I’ve missed you girl,” Dick whispered as Zitka wrapped her trunk around him. He stroked her leathery skin and she nuzzled him slightly with her larger head. “I guess it’s true what they say; an elephant never forgets.”

He closed his eyes as she held him, he had always loved the old elephant and the way she wrapped her trunk around him was like a warm hug, in fact it probably was the elephant’s equivalent of a hug anyway.

“Hey you!” His moment was interrupted by a loud voice from the direction of the big top. “Get away from their! Don’t you realise these animals can be dangerous?!”

Dick glanced up and Zitka unwound her trunk from around the boy’s small frame. He looked up at the man who had come running at the sight of him with the elephant.

“Pop Haly!” Dick couldn’t help but smile at the familiar face.

“Dick? What are you doing here?” Haly suddenly looked flustered. “I didn’t recognise you there.” The man gestured to the elephant, indicating that this was an explanation as to why the man had shouted at him just moments before.

“It’s okay, Mr Haly. It’s been years since I was here so I wouldn’t expect you to know it was me.”

“Of course it has, Dan.” Haly replied with a wink and Dick blushed a little as he remembered how easily the man had recognised him when he had come here undercover just before Christmas. Of course Zitka hadn’t been there then so it was certainly his first time seeing her in a while.

He felt his shoulder being tapped reached up to stroke the wrinkled trunk that was vying for his attention.

He turned around, reaching in his pocket for the apple that he had bought before coming here. He stroked the elephant’s gentle face.

“I’ve got to go now Zitka, but don’t worry I’ll be seeing you again very soon.” He tried to fight back the tears as he realised what he was saying was true. He knew Zitka was an old elephant but he didn’t want to think about her moving on, still if he was lucky he could help guide her for the in between stages. Minimal interaction was something they insisted upon but generally they were a little more lenient when it came to animals.

He turned away from the elephant and Haly led him out of the tent.

“Any chance you plan on telling me why you’re here kid?” Straight to the point.

Dick sighed, he knew he was going to have to do this but he didn’t realise how hard it would be.

“I…I wanted to say good bye.”

Haly frowned as the man processed his words. “Do you plan on telling me where you’re going?”

Dick hesitated, trying to think of a good way of putting it in a way that wouldn’t give anything away. In the end he settled, “Moving on.”

Haly nodded, accepting that answer but clearing thinking on the implications of it.

“Where are you going when you’re done here?” Dick frowned at him.

“I can’t imagine this is your last stop,” Haly explained, “I got a call from Bruce the other day saying you were missing. I hope you’re planning to say good bye to him to.”

Dick looked down guiltily and nodded. “I will…eventually.”

Haly sighed and Dick noticed where they were going. They were at the back of the group of caravans where the performers lived but Dick realised that Haly had been leading him to a specific one. He stopped short and stared at the caravan with his family name painted in gold above the door.

“We never repainted it.” Haly spoke quietly. “No one’s lived in it since your family but we’ve been using it as storage space, can’t be dragging around an empty caravan after all, but I want you to know it’s still here. If you ever need somewhere to go it’ll always be here.”

Dick nodded. “Th-Thanks Pop Haly, that means a lot but…I don’t think that’s going to happen. You should give it to someone else.”

Haly smiled and shook his head before pulling the boy into a hug.

Dick cried slightly as he said goodbye to Haly and left the circus. He would go to see Bruce and the others like he had promised Pop Haly but he had one more place to go first.

Dick took a train to Gotham, he was careful to use only cash as he travelled, that way Bruce wouldn’t be able to track where he went. He didn’t want to have to avoid his father but he couldn’t let himself be found quite yet. Not until he was ready.

When he got off the train it was only a short walk to their destination. He stopped off on the way at a local florist and bought a bunch of white lilies. The shopkeeper didn’t ask and he didn’t say anything, they were both aware of the meaning of these particular flowers.

It started raining as he left the florist which he thought was strangely appropriate, though not all unusual for Gotham City. He didn’t meet anyone on his way to his destination which he was glad of, he was also glad to find that there were very few visitors to the graveyard today.

He wandered down a familiar path and sat down beneath the large tree that shadowed his parents’ graves.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry I lied to you and pretended to be something I’m not. I tried my best though; I hope I was nearly as good as a real child would have been.” He felt the tears running down his cheeks but didn’t care if anyone saw as he spoke to his parents.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you as well. Even with what I am…I wasn’t allowed, but- but I couldn’t anyway.”

He wiped his face and placed the flower between the two gravestones before leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes.


	8. Chapter Seven

~14 years ago

The boy sat where he often did when he needed to think, not somewhere quiet and alone but in fact somewhere with noise and chaos and all kinds of things which could distract him from his thoughts.

He watched the mortal world, trying to concentrate on what is and see exactly what he was looking for. There it was. He took a moment to think while he tried to work it out. He looked again at the year in the mortal world then thought back.

Two years. It had been two years since the girl he knew had made her promise. It really wasn’t that long. Their lifespans appeared infinite after all, he was over a century old himself, still just a child really, but he hoped she wouldn’t take too long.

As if she could hear what she was thinking –which was entirely possible considering what some of their kind could do- the girl appeared before him. She sat down beside him and smiled. He smiled back, as impatient as he sometimes felt, he couldn’t be angry at her.

“I want to take you somewhere.” Her voice was soft and melodic. “I have something I need to show you brother.”

He nodded and took the hand she held out to him. They stood together and the white nothingness that had previously surrounded them began to fade into something resembling existence.

When the world became less dizzying the boy took a moment to breathe and look at his surroundings. Where had the girl taken him?

The place was cold and there was a dank smell in the air. There was a crying for the next room and the boy stepped forward to see what was making it. He stopped before he went in though, this was clearly the mortal world and they were not supposed to be seen by mortals, the rules forbade it.

The girl beside him laughed. “It’s okay little brother. The mortals cannot see or hear you so long as they are alive.”

The boy nodded, taking in this knew information before following the sound of the cries into the next room. This room was darker than the other. The walls were dirty and had barely a decoration. There was a bed pushed up against one wall and a cot against the other.

The boy leaned over the edge of the cot to see its occupant. A small child lay on the mattress, she was no more than one or two years old if his memory was correct. She lay there crying but no one came to help her.

Then the door was pushed open slightly further. Another child came in; she was older than the one in the cot. The new girl had dark hair but otherwise resembled the other, perhaps her sister.

The dark-haired girl pulled open the curtain slightly and now the boy was able to make out the scowl on her face along with the small pocket knife she had in her dress pocket. She came up to the cot and leaned in to look at the crying child.

“Be quiet baby.” She spoke softly, but there was annoyance and something else in her tone. “If you keep this up the neighbours are gonna complain and then we’ll all be in trouble. You don’t want them to find out about Mum and Dad do ya?”

The boy glanced at his own sister for some clarification of what was going on.

“Their parents are criminals. These girls are going to be trained by their parents their whole lives. They won’t get a proper childhood; they’ll suffer for what their parents have done to them.”

“That’s horrible.” The boy was honestly appalled, “We have to do something!”

“We don’t interfere with mortals brother.”

The girl held his hand again and he watched as the scene faded again as the little girl whispered to her baby sister.

The world came into focus more quickly this time. Now they stood in a small family home. The place had a certain warmth to it that the boy liked. A woman stood in the kitchen, humming to herself as she made the family’s dinner and a man sat in an armchair in the living room, watching a toddler play with his toys.

The boy knelt down in front of the toddler and smiled at him. The boy rolled a toy cat around the floor. He played silently, which the boy thought might be a little unusual for a toddler. Then the toddler stood and walked over to where his father was sat. He reached up onto the small table next to where his father sat.

The boy saw that the child was reaching for one of his toys which sat at the back of the table. Then things happened very quickly. The boy, not able to see what else was on the table, knocked over a bottle of alcohol, clearly meant for his father. The liquid spilled over his father’s lap and the boy watched as the red-headed child cowered. The man stood with rage covering his features. The man raised his hand.

The boy watching felt a hand grip his and turned to see his sister. The world faded but there was still time to hear the loud smack and the cry of pain from the child.

The boy was breathing heavily when the world came into view again. This time they were standing outside what looked like some sort of castle. A teenaged boy came running out of the main gates followed by another group of boys who all looked slightly larger and older than the first. The matching uniforms the boys all wore indicated that the building must be some sort of school.

The boys chased the first round the corner and the boy and his sister followed them. The older boys had cornered the teenager at a dead end. One of them smiled as he pulled back his fist and landed a punch to the other boy’s stomach, causing the smaller boy to double over.

The older boys laughed as they continued to hit him.

“What you gonna do now rich boy?!” One of them shouted over the teenager’s quiet grunts of pain.

“Gonna go tell mummy and daddy?” The older boys all laughed at this comment.

“Oh, that’s right; you can’t. You don’t have a mummy and daddy any more, do you freak?!”

The younger boy aimed a punch at the boy who had spoken but was tripped by the other boys and landed face first on the ground.

The boy had seen enough.

“This is horrible. Why are you showing me this sister?”

The girl sighed and took his hand again.

This time the two of them stood in what appeared to be some sort of park. The girl began walking and the boy followed closely after her.

“You asked me a while ago to make you mortal. I promised you fourteen years.”

So that was what all this had been about.

“I wanted to show you what the mortal world was really like, you can still drop out now if you want to.”

The boy thought of all the awful things he had seen here. He made a decision quickly.

“I want to be mortal sister. I know fourteen years isn’t long but I can’t do anything to help people like them if I don’t try.”

The girl smiled and shook her head.

“You always were different brother. I don’t understand why you are so insistent on helping these mortals but if you must I will give you what I owe.”

The girl took his hand again and he expected the world to start fading around him. Instead she began walking down the path with more direction and purpose than before, the boy followed her.

They came to a group of brightly painted caravans and tents and the girl lead him with purpose to a particular caravan. They stepped through the door and saw a young man and woman sitting on a sofa together. The man chuckled slightly as the woman’s auburn hair brushed against his face and she smiled at him.

“They can’t have children.” He turned to look at the girl. “They want them but they can’t have them.”

The boy was unsure where she would take this. “You could be their child though. If you want to be mortal you must start from the beginning. The clock starts the moment she has her baby and ends exactly fourteen years after.” She turned to him. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The boy swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “I’m sure.”

“The girl took his hand and placed it on the woman’s abdomen. “Turning back will be painful for your mortal body if you stay for the entire fourteen years. I’ll come for you before then to take you back without the pain.”

He shook his head, “No, I want to have my whole fourteen years.”

She sighed but did not respond. The boy was surrounded by a bright white light again.


	9. Chapter Eight

18th March

Wally sighed as he sat down on the sofa in the living area of Mount Justice and placed his head in his hands. He had been feeling uncharacteristically depressed lately but nobody said anything about it; they all knew why.

It had been six days. Almost a week since Robin had gone missing. Had left.

They kept looking, they weren’t going to give up on him, but something told Wally that his best friend didn’t want to be found. What had happened just before Robin disappeared had been scary enough. Now Robin was gone, there was no sign of him anywhere and something weird any possibly seriously dangerous was going on that they knew nothing about.

To put it simply, he was worried sick.

He sat back in the chair and looked around at the rest of the team as they tried to act normal and get on like Robin’s disappearance hadn’t fazed them. Of course it had. The team had been messing up in training and hadn’t even been sent on a proper mission since he disappeared. It just didn’t work not having a key member of their team around. Wally supposed they would be able to adapt eventually but not while they still knew nothing of what had happened to their friend.

That was why they kept looking. The team hadn’t been given any official missions or even permission to leave the mountain as a team but the Justice League were kidding themselves if they thought they wouldn’t go out looking. The team had searched the warehouse for any sign of what might be going on and kept a constant eye on Happy Harbour in case Robin hadn’t gone too far.

Batman had already tried checking the zeta beams of course but the young hacker had wiped out all evidence of his leaving from the systems so that gave them no indication of where he might have gone.

Wally stood up and went to the kitchen for his snack, he had gone off his food a little lately which was worrying in itself but he made sure to keep eating anyway for his fast metabolism.

He pulled a packet of crisps out the cupboard and leaning against the counter to eat them, bothered very little by the way Megan turned around and sent him a worried glance as he ate the crisps at a regular human pace. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, he forgot it was still on vibrate from training earlier, and reached in to check who was sending him a message.

He took a look at the person he had got the message from first but it was an unknown number. Well, that’s definitely not weird.

He opened the message and read it through. Then blinked a few times before reading again. It couldn’t be…

‘Meet me in the park by your school. I’ll wait for you. Don’t tell B. –R’

The message was short but it was obvious who it was from, at least to Wally, probably not to anyone else, he guessed that was the point. He stood up and dumped the rest of the crisps on the counter. He was just about to leave when he thought of the team. He glanced around at them. They were Rob’s friends too. Sure Robin said he couldn’t tell Batman but he didn’t mention the team. It might have been implied but he could always pretend he didn’t realise it later.

He smiled and turned to Megan.

“We need to talk.” He spoke quietly, not wanting to be overheard on the security cameras he was certain Batman would be looking at later, assuming he wasn’t already watching live.

“What about?” Megan looked confused, but kept her voice hushed too.

He tapped his head before thinking his response.

‘I’ll let you know in a minute but the whole team needs to be in on this.’

Megan nodded and he felt the others’ minds connecting to theirs one by one.

‘What’s going on Baywatch?’ He heard Artemis ask over the link.

He turned to her with a grin.

‘I just got a text from Rob.’ Every member of the team turned to him now, ready to hear what he had to say. ‘He wants to meet up in a park near my school, he said not to tell Batman but I think we should all go.’

Kaldur looked worried and Wally waited for the older boy to say they shouldn’t go or they should tell the league. Wally may have decided to tell the others but if it came down to it he could still get out of the mountain before they could stop him.

‘When did he say to meet him?’ Great, questions first then.

‘He didn’t, just said he could be waiting.’

The older boy nodded. There was a moment of silence between the teens before the eldest spoke, or rather thought, up again.

‘We should leave now then, but be cautious. I don’t want us walking blindly into what could be a trap.’

Wally’s smile grew. He never should have doubted his friend.

Wally led his friends, all now dressed in civilian attire, through the park. He immediately knew which one his friend had meant, they often met up there after Wally finished school for the day since it would be pretty weird if Dick Grayson showed up outside Keystone High School.

As they approached the bench where the two of them usually met Wally saw a figure sitting there. He ran up, no longer caring about the possibility of being noticed and stood in front of the younger boy.

Robin smiled when he saw Wally and the older took this as invitation to pull his friend into a hug.

The rest of the team caught up with him and Wally released his best friend. Robin glanced at the others then gave him a questioning look, raising one eyebrow above the sunglasses Wally was relived he had chosen to wear.

Wally shrugged and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted when he was hit from behind.

He crashed to the floor and reached up to the back of his neck to check the damage, it wasn’t bleeding but there was already a lump forming; that was certainly going to hurt tomorrow.

He turned around to see who had attacked them and saw a group of armed thugs who looked suspiciously similar to the ones who had been working for Klarion just over a week before.

He got to his feet and readied himself to fight, the rest of the team doing the same. He was picking which thug he was going to take out first when Klarion showed up.

The witch boy stepped out frim between the trees with a smirk on his face which only irritated Wally more. Except Klarion seemed to completely ignore Wally and the rest of the team for that matter, Wally watched as the sorcerer created a ball of red fire in his hand. When he appeared to be done he turned to them, taking in their defensive stances before directing his gaze to something behind Wally.

He turned his head slowly, keeping one eye on the lord of chaos. Robin stood behind him, his stance ready to fight like the rest, but Wally now noticed the boy wonder looked a little worse for wear. Robin’s clothes were dirty and tattier than anything Wally had seen him wear before. It made Wally wonder what the boy had been doing and where he had been living for the last week. He stepped further in front of the boy protectively before turning back to Klarion.

“Now, now,” Klarion finally spoke, “enough playing around. I know the truth and now I’ve finally found you so let’s get this over with.”

Klarion was talking to Robin, Wally glanced back to see the boy’s expression unfazed.

“How did you find me?”

Wally kept his gaze on Robin, the boy looked as calm as ever but it was hard to tell for certain behind his sunglasses.

“I’ve been trying to track you for a little while now, ever since you left the protection the little Justice League provides. This is actually the first time in days you’ve stayed in one place long enough for me to determine your location.” Klarion’s smile grew and Wally could hear a loud purr from somewhere in the trees, it seemed the cat was pleased about this situation as well.

Wally her Robin mutter a word under his breath that he didn’t recognise. He was pretty sure he hadn’t heard the other boy curse before but Robin had told him once that he usually did so in Romani so Wally had to assume that’s what it was.

He kept watching Robin, waiting for him to say something else to Klarion and noticed that the rest of the team was doing the same. Robin glanced from Klarion to him and his expression changed suddenly to concern.

He felt himself being pushed to the ground and saw his friend hit with the red fire Klarion had in his hand just moments before. Robin fell to the floor and Wally moved to check on him before he heard bullets being fired. He turned to the men that had turned up earlier; clearly they had seen Klarion’s attack as a cue to attack. Wally got to his feet and ran at the, but had to hold back as the bullets didn’t take a moment to stop.

He ducked behind a tree to avoid the hail of bullets. These men seemed a whole lot better than the ones Klarion had brought with him before. He was thrown back as the tree he leaned against was pulled up from the ground and Wally felt a sense of déjà vu. Except last time this had happened they had been winning.

He watched as Superboy was knocked off his feet by one of the trees before glancing down at the ground.

Robin. The boy wonder still lay there, barely moving. Wally dashed over to him, he need to get the boy out of harm’s way. He crouched down by his friend and a bullet hit him. Wally fell backwards away from his friend. He glanced at his arm where it had torn through his clothing and a part of his flesh, this really wasn’t good.

It was at that point that Robin stirred. The boy wonder looked up, taking in what was happening around him before turning to where Klarion stood, his movements stiff and pained.

“Stop it!” Robin shouted, “Stop it now; they have nothing to do with this!”


	10. Chapter Nine

18th March

He stood up, turning to face Klarion as he did so. Robin looked around at his friends as they fought the thugs Klarion had brought with him. The team were good but so were the people they were fighting. He glanced down at Wally who was holding his bloodied shoulder. It looked like the bullet had gone right through, he could only imagine the pain his friend must be in but it was still a relief that the bullet wasn’t wedged inside. With Wally’s fast healing they would probably have had to cut open his shoulder in order to remove the bullet.

He looked away and back at the sorcerer. He could still feel where the hellfire the witch by had hit him with burning his side but for now there was little he could do.

He watched his friends fight and realised how weak he was right now. There really was nothing he could do. Weakened like this he couldn’t fight, not even the hired thugs let alone Klarion himself. They were attacking his friends, his family, to get to him and right now he was too weak to even try and stop them.

Wally’s blood was on the ground at his feet and it was his fault. Klarion knew what he was and was coming here for him but because of his weakness his friends was suffering for him. For the first time in over fourteen years Robin wished he wasn’t human.

He looked at Klarion, standing over him. A smug grin on the sorcerer’s face as he watched the young heroes getting beaten by him and is men.

“Stop it!” Robin shouted, “Stop it now; they have nothing to do with this!”

Klarion’s grin only grew as Robin shouted. This wasn’t fair, wasn’t right. He had to do something.

“This is between you and me so leave them out of it.” How dare Klarion hurt innocents to get to him! This was wrong. Everything about this was wrong.

Robin felt a warmth building up inside him and around him. It felt almost familiar yet so distant and strange at the same time. It was practically the definition of an oxymoron.

The woods around him lit up around him and he wondered where the light was coming from until he saw his friends and enemies’ faces turning to look at him. He would protect his friends. He would protect the innocent people and remove those who wished to harm them. This was right.

He felt the light and warmth engulf him and the ground vanish from beneath his feet, only to realise that the ground was still there and he was being lifted above it. He was floating; flying. Not just swinging through the air like a trapeze artist or a superhero with a grapple gun. He flew without wings. It was exhilarating and terrifying but none of that mattered because of Klarion.

Klarion who had hurt his friends, who would be continuing to hurt them if he had not been distracted. He brought innocent people into this fight; people who didn’t understand what they were getting into but knew the difference between bad and good. Right and wrong. What Klarion did was wrong and it was his position and duty now to make it right.

He looked down on Klarion and the witch boy looked almost afraid. Robin held out his hand towards him; preparing for justice to be dealt, when he heard it. Everyone there heard it. A loud and definite cracking, like something had finally broken and then something poured through. The heat in his body, a good, familiar, comfortable warmth, suddenly got too much. He was getting hotter and hotter, the heat pouring off him in waves. It felt like his skin was peeling. And then he was falling, he fell to the ground of the park, curling in on himself and the heat and the pain grew worse, taking him nearly completely.

He closed his eyes, and then opened them again and all he could see was light. Bright light that filled his vision and blocked out everything else. Blue eyes closed again, screwed up tight, trying to block out the heat and light, or perhaps keep it in.

Then there was laughter, a harsh cold laugh that was almost painful to Robin’s ears.

He opened his eyes only slightly to see Klarion standing over him, Teekl in his arms. The cat seemed to be smiling just as widely as her master.

He looked to the sides just enough to see the team his friends. They were all lying on the ground or held by the thugs, defeated through the distraction he had created. Damn it all.

“Is it too much for you?” Klarion spoke calmly but they was an amusement, an insult in his voice that most people wouldn’t even notice, Robin was obviously not most people.

“Does it hurt? The heat and the light, all that righteousness in that weak, sinful mortal body? It was never going to work.”

He looked up at Klarion. Did the sorcerer really know what was happening or had he just been playing with him?

“I suppose that’s why the others abandoned the light a long time ago. No more playing with mortals.” Klarion paused for a moment. “Or perhaps there’s another reason. Either way it probably makes it a whole lot harder for you. I don’t suppose you’ve ever experienced this before.

“I still had to try it though. I knew your mortal body couldn’t handle the light you possess. I knew you’d be able to use it too. Most can’t, they abandoned the light, but you…you were always good, fighting for what’s right. I supposed whatever happened to let me see what you were let you have access to it when you saw the need.

“And guess what?” Klarion pent down and grabbed Robin by the hair, forcing the boy to look at him. “I was right.”

Klarion dropped him and Robin was only vaguely aware of what happened next.

He could hear Klarion shouting orders somewhere in the distance beyond the pain. One of the men complained, said something about someone else he knew he should recognise the name of. Clearly these thugs usually worked for someone else. The Light perhaps? That made two things called the light; could get confusing. Why did he always get so stupid when he was in a lot of pain? The thoughts just didn’t come as easily as they should do.

There seemed to be some sort of argument going on. Eventually he felt himself being picked up by one of the thugs only to be dropped back to the ground with a sharp cry of pain from what sounded like a woman.

Klarion laughed and he was lifted again. This time not by a person. He supposed Klarion was using some kind of telekenetics to lift him now.

After that he started feeling increasingly tired and was going to close his eyes when he realised they were actually already closed. That was kind of handy… He let the real world fade for a while… The pain faded to and Robin was happy to just be rid of it all…


	11. Chapter Ten

20th March

He was cold. That was the first thing he noticed.

He took in his surroundings before opening his eyes. He was sat leaning against what felt like cold stone and the floor was made of the same stuff as the walls. The floor was damp and slightly sticky. He decided it was best to try and avoid thinking on that. There were heavy metal chains around his wrists and ankles and the former chains were cutting into his skin as they held his arms above his head. They felt stiff, they had clearly been held like that a while.

There was something else too, something that he should notice, should probably be worried about but the pain is his head prevented him from thinking clearly.

He opened his eyes slowly; it took a moment to focus. At first the world seemed like a dark blur but then his vision came back to normal and he could make out the dirty stone floor. He looked up, his neck was stiff and it was painful to move but he managed to direct his gaze to what was directly in front of him.

He saw the bars, the black metal bars of his prison in front of him. Beyond them was an arm chair placed in front of a roaring fire. He was just a little too far away to benefit from the heat of it. He could just about make out a figure sitting in the arm chair. Klarion; the lord of chaos who had held him captive in this prison since the attack on the team.

He didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to think about what had happened to the team after he had been dumb enough to get them all caught by Klarion and his men. It was his fault this had happened and he didn’t want to consider the possibility that they were suffering as Klarion intended for him.

It had been the eighteenth when he had been captured, that he knew for certain, but he didn’t know how much time had passed since then. That worried him more than anything. He would turn fourteen on the twenty-first and then he would change. His sister had warned him it would be painful and he had been prepared for it but not here. Not while he was a prisoner to this monster.

That was the least of his worries though; when he turned his sister would come here for him. He had tried contacting them, tried warning her not to come but so far he had been unable to reach them.

He felt so drained and tried and he was certain it had something to do with the strange black metal that made up the chains and the bars of his prison. It wasn’t anything from earth. It was probably something Klarion had gotten or made specifically. A material made to cut him off from his power.

He knew Klarion expected him to call for help. He expected the others to come and rescue Dick themselves. If they came, Dick knew Klarion would try to capture them, to harm them.

In the time he had already been here, the other times he had woken up, Klarion had made it clear he was only the bait in the trap. When the others came, and certainly they would if Dick did not find a way to contact them before his time as a mortal ended, Klarion was ready for them. He would capture them and kill them and again it would be all Dick’s fault. Even if he somehow did manage to get back they would probably take his wings for this.

He tried not to cry, but in the time he had already been here Klarion and been working on breaking down him mental barriers, on breaking him, and now Dick wasn’t able to hold in and hide away his emotions. He felt the warm tears falling down his cold cheeks.

Klarion turned to him now and he looked to the side to try and hide his tears from the sorcerer, wincing slightly at the stiffness in his neck. He would not allow him to see him crying.

Klarion looked him up and down. The look in the elder’s eyes and the smile on his lips made Dick shudder.

“You c-can’t keep me like this.” He hated the stutter in his voice, he was certain it was from the cold.

“Oh really,” the witch boy’s smile grew into a fully-fledged grin, “In that case fell free to leave but I don’t imagine you’ll make it very far like that.”

What was that supposed to mean? Dick looked down to take in his condition. Deep cuts ran along his legs and body, mars that looked practically carved into his naked flesh.

Oh, that was it. That was what he had forgotten about earlier. He was naked.

Too late to be self-conscious about it now he supposed. He was pretty sure he had been like that a while and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who it had been that had undressed him.

He glared at the witch boy.

“You now, if you didn’t look so helpless and vulnerable right now that might actually be scary.”

Dick ignored him. Klarion was obviously just trying to wind him up.

Besides he had more important things to work on at the moment.

He closed his eyes and shut out the sorcerer and his taunting. He thought of his sister and concentrated on the face he recognised. ‘Please let this work,’ he thought, it was nearly too late, that he was certain of.

‘Brother?’ The voice in his head nearly made him open his eyes in surprise but he screwed them tightly shut and kept concentrating on the girl.

In his mind he stood in a white space. Nothingness surrounded him and he felt like he was home, but the coldness that surrounded him and filled his body was a clear reminder of where he really was and that this place was simply and illusion.

Then his sister was standing before him, smiling at her younger kin.

‘Does this mean you’re ready to come home then?’

He was surprised at this comment, didn’t she realise what was going on.

‘Aren’t you paying attention to what is going on?’ he asked the girl, ‘You can’t come to earth; the sorcerer is waiting for you. He will kill you if you come.’

She laughed, ‘I don’t think one sorcerer would be too much for me.’

He shook his head at her, then concentrated on his mortal form; he needed to show her what he looked like right now. Perhaps if she saw what Klarion had done she would not come.

The girl gasped, then her features turned from their usual happy calm to anger. He knew he had managed it then.

‘This sorcerer did this to you?’

‘Leave me be for now, I’ll find a way to get away from him.’

She shook her head and turned away from him. ‘I’ll do what you ask, but I don’t imagine you will.’

Then she was gone. Dick opened his eyes and saw the cell again. He had succeeded. He had managed to contact his kin and tell them of the trap.

But they had abandoned him. His sister did not think he would get away from Klarion so she had left him to die. He glanced at Teekl; the cat was perched on the back of the armchair, watching him hungrily.

His wings and his power would come back as soon as he turned fourteen and then as soon as they realised the others were not coming, Klarion and Teekl would kill him.

“What’s wrong little one? You look so sad all of a sudden.”

Well he certainly wasn’t going to be happy about dying.

Klarion took a step closer to his cell and opened his mouth to speak before turning away.

The sorcerer left the room quickly and silently and Dick wondered what was going on.

There was a loud crash from somewhere else in the building. Klarion had clearly left to join some kind of fight. Hope bubbled up in Dick for the first time since Klarion had taken him.

Teekl had stayed behind though. She walked to the front of the cell, licking her lips hungrily. She wouldn’t kill him though, he knew that. As long as she didn’t know he had contacted his sister he was safe. She worked for Klarion and so she wasn’t going to kill him without his permission, right?

The cat stepped closer, growing to three or four times her usual size as she did so. She was now inside the cell with him and suddenly Dick wasn’t so sure as to what the familiar would and wouldn’t do.

Before she could take another step towards him there was a loud crash from the other side of the room and Teekl let out a sound somewhere between a shriek and a hiss and she was knocked to the side by what looked like a whip made entirely of water. It couldn’t be.

There was a shout from by the door and Superboy came running in. Dick swore he had never been so relieved to see the clone. Superboy took in his position and hurriedly broke the cell bars. The clone ran up to him and began working on the chains that held him.

Dick closed his eyes; he was relieved the team was here. He felt so weak and tired and now he was finally able to rest.

His eyes were closed but he could hear slightly muffled voices around him and then a pair of strong arms were lifting him up off the floor and he was being moved so fast he could feel a strong wind on his back, even though he was certain he was still indoors for at least a short time. He buried his face in the muscled chest and heard a voice speak quietly to him.

“It’s okay, Dick. You’re gonna be okay.”


	12. Chapter Eleven

20th March

Wally carefully lowered his best friend down onto the bed of the Mount Justice infirmary. He was so relieved to have his best friend back safely. Sure he had plenty of questions he wanted, no needed to ask the kid, mostly along the lines of what the heck was going on but that could wait. Right now what mattered was that Dick was back home safe.

The boy stirred slightly when he was placed on the soft bed. Wally grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around the younger teen, they boy was so cold, when the found him he was being kept in that cell in the basement with absolutely nothing to help him stay at a reasonable temperature.

Wally tried not to think on how lucky they had been to find him at all. Klarion had had no interest in the team so he had just left the rest of them in the park after he had taken Dick. They had gone back to Mount Justice and informed Batman of what happened. They didn’t have anything to go on except for the thugs that Klarion had used, it had been Artemis who had recognised some of the muscle who usually worked for Luthor –Wally actually kissed her for that. When they got to Lex-corp the man himself was gone but they looked through his files to find something. The team had searched for hours and Wally had been getting scared when it happened.

Wally West generally didn’t believe in miracles but he supposed stranger things had happened in the past few weeks. A file had fallen down from one of the topmost shelves in Luthor’s office. Wally had picked it up and given it a flick through. It was a building just outside of Metropolis. Dark, creepy, old and, according to the file, currently in use by a particular lord of chaos. The team had gotten there as quickly as they could and had been met by a number of armed gunmen when they arrived. Fortunately they had brought back-up along this time in the form of Metropolis’s resident hero.

They found Dick in a cell in the basement, barely conscious and apparently about to get murdered by some sort of demon cat. Aqualad had ordered Wally to run straight back to the mountain with Robin and for once Wally was happy to follow orders.

Black Canary came into the infirmary followed closely by Batman himself. She took in the condition of the boy in front of her and began gathering medical supplies while Batman stood to the side, trying to avoid getting in her way. Wally would have said something but noticed the way the man stared intently at Dick, at his son.

Wally slipped out of the room to wait.

The team came back not long after and by this time Black Canary had got Robin into what she determined was a stable condition. The team immediately asked to see him but of course she insisted the boy needed his rest. Batman hadn’t left the room since him and Black Canary had arrived earlier.

It was a very late hour of the evening when they were finally allowed to see the boy wonder. Black Canary had come into the living room and told them they could go in if they were careful not to disturb him. Wally wondered why she was letting them see him before he woke up but thought that she probably just wanted them to get some sleep rather than sitting up in the lounge waiting to see the boy.

When they got to the infirmary Wally was surprised to see Dick sitting up in bed, chatting away at Batman, he wondered if Dinah knew that the boy was actually awake now. He coughed to draw attention to himself and the other team members and tried to avoid thinking about the fact that Batman had actually been smiling just now.

Dick looked away from him when he entered the room and Wally could only wonder why.

“I’m sorry,” the younger spoke in barely a whisper. That could explain it.

“What for?” Wally asked, trying to mask his worry with a wide grin.

Dick gestured to his shoulder where he had gotten shot just days before, “It’s my fault. You got dragged into something you never should’ve been involved in and got hurt.”

Wally rolled his eyes. He really hated this self-blaming thing the kid liked to do.

“It’s cool, Rob. We’re friends, even if you had specifically asked us not to get involved we would have come looking for you. You know that.”

Dick nodded minutely and Wally knew he had gotten through to him.

“I suppose you guys have lots of questions.” Dick spoke up after a moment of silence.

“Just a few.” Way to under-exaggerate Artemis.

Robin nodded then glanced at Batman. The man nodded and stood.

“You’ve told me all I need to know, son.” Batman’s voice was much softer and gentler than Wally had heard from him before, Bruce Wayne’s voice, not Batman’s. That was all the man said before he left the room.

Wally took his place perched on the side of Dick’s bed, and couldn’t help a feeling of concern as the boy wrapped his blanket a little tighter around himself.

“How about you start from the beginning?” Kaldur prompted.

Dick nodded. “I suppose I should start by telling you guys that I’m not exactly human.”

Superboy snorted from the corner. “We figured.”

“There’s not really a proper way to describe what I am, at least not in English, but I suppose the closest thing is to say I’m like an angel.”

Wally raises an eyebrow. Now that was not something he had expected.

“Sixteen years ago I asked a friend of mine to turn me mortal for a time. She agreed that I could have fourteen years on earth, living as a human.”

Dick paused and Wally realised why. “It’s…it’s the twentieth today.”

The younger boy nodded, “I know, Bats told me when I woke up.”

“I don’t understand.” Megan spoke up, “What does the date have to do with it?”

Dick smiled at his friend, “It’s my birthday tomorrow. I turn fourteen. Tomorrow evening will be my last one here.”

Wally shook his head, no this was not happening, this could not be happening. He couldn’t have just gotten his friend back just to lose him again.

“It’s okay Wally.” He turned to look at Dick again. “It’s asterous. All that’s happening is I’m going back home.”

“I won’t be able to see you?” He wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question.

Dick shook his head. “I can keep an eye on you though. From where I am. Spying on mortals always was a bit of a pastime for me.”

Dick was smiling but Wally knew it wasn’t genuine. He tried to smile too. He was going to miss his friend when Dick was gone.

“If this is your last night with us we’ve gotta do something fun you know.”

Dick nodded, this time his smile was real. “Batman says we could have a movie night, but I’m not allowed to leave the infirmary so we’ve got to have it in here.”

Wally grinned and nodded and it didn’t take long to get everything set up. He sat down on the bed beside his friend and the younger boy leaned his head on his shoulder. “I still can’t believe you’re an actual angel.” He whispered under his breath after the movie had begun.

Dick shrugged and Wally felt rather than saw the movement. “Not exactly an angel. My kind used to be but we’ve changed.”

Wally turned to him, “What do you mean?”

“We don’t help humans anymore.”

Wally frowned. “That’s sad. Doesn’t sound like you. You should do something about it.”

Dick smiled to himself, “Maybe I will.”

It was about twenty minutes into the movie what Dick fell asleep on Wally’s shoulder. He held the younger –or in fact older- boy close. He didn’t want to think about life without Dick but there was nothing he could really do.


	13. Chapter Twelve

21st March

 

The next day went by much faster than Wally would have liked. The team were allowed to spend most of the day together as Robin had informed them that morning that he had been born in the early evening and so wouldn’t be leaving until then. The team had gone down to the beach in the morning, had pizza from a local pizza place for lunch and in the afternoon Megan had actually managed a passable birthday cake, despite the fact today probably wasn't much of a day for celebration.

The team sat in the living area laughing and joking after they had had their fill of cake, trying to distract themselves from what they knew would have to happen in just a few hours time. At least most of them were, Wally couldn’t help but worry about the way his best friend kept glancing across the room at the clock.

All of them were at least a little surprised when Robin stood up and headed towards the door.

Wally grabbed his wrist before he could make a getaway and was a little concerned by the panicked expression that flashed across the other boy’s face at the contact.

Wally gave him what he hoped was a questioning look and it worked as Robin relented and explained.

“I’m sorry guys, today’s been fun but I kind of have to go.”

“But it’s only five, I thought you said it wouldn’t be until six or seven.” Megan looked quite worried now, Wally thought she must be wondering if she had got it wrong, but Wally was sure that was what Robin had told them earlier.

“I know, but there are other people I haven’t had a chance to say good bye too. I need to go back to Gotham and see-”

“Oh will you stop being such a birdbrain, birdbrain.”

Wally looked up to the doorway to see an unwelcomely familiar red-headed girl standing in the doorway. He glared as Robin turned to the girl and grinned.

The two of them hugged for a moment while most of the team wondered what was going on.

“You came here?” It wasn’t really a question of the fact she had come but of how.

The girl nodded anyway. “Bats kinda explained to us what was going on and me and A came down here so you didn’t have to come looking for us.”

She shook her head and sighed, “Anybody but you and I wouldn’t have believed a word of it…”

Robin smiled impishly at her and Wally continued to glare at the other red-head as he turned towards the rest of the team.

“Guys this is...er…”

“Batgirl,” she interrupted him again, “but you guys can just call me Barbara.”

The rest of the team smiled and greeted her, all except for Artemis who looked to be in a state of shock.

“Barbara? As in Barbara? And that means...but you can’t.” Artemis seemed to be struggling with something and Wally could only imagine what but the two bats seemed to catch on quick. Barbara pulled the blonde into a brief hug while Robin cackled in the doorway.

Wally thought he heard Artemis mutter something under her breath along the lines of ‘laugh about this someday’, but he wasn’t particularly bothered with the details of that story right now.

After introductions had been made Robin turned towards the door again.

“Hey, BG did you say that A was here.”

Barbara nodded and smiled at the boy, “Yeah, him and Bats are waiting for you in the mission room. He seems pretty eager to see you.”

Robin nodded at her and smiled before leaving the room.

Wally, not wanting to be in Batgirl’s presence any longer than necessary followed.

He stopped by the door and waited as he watched the younger boy hug his father and grandfather figures. The boy would obviously need at least a moment with just then. He could still hear the younger apologising to Alfred as he hugged him, the man quick to tell him that all was fine. Wally waited patiently for all the hugging and family moments to be over.

He planned to make his presence known only after Dick was done with the more personal stuff though he was pretty sure Bats already knew he was there.

This plan, like most plans which involved the team, fell apart very quickly though. Robin seemed to suddenly tense and held tighter onto the old man. Batman was beside him in an instant as the boy let out a cry of pain, at this Wally rushed into the room too and his timing could not have been much more perfect for once as the younger boy collapsed right into his arms.

Batman and Alfred’s lack of surprise at his presence confirmed what he had believed earlier about their knowledge of his observing but that wasn’t all that important to the speedster at that point in time. Robin let out another cry of pain and Wally held him tighter.

The boy wonder pushed him away though and, breathing heavily, managed to turn himself over so he was resting on his front in Robin’s arms. The younger turned to look at the two men standing over them with nothing but concern.

“S’okay, I knew...I knew it would be painful when I went back...I’ll be okay.”

Robin turned back to Wally and pressed his face into the red-head’s shoulder and Wally could feel the boys hot, and laboured, breath on his neck.

“We should get you to the infirmary.” As always Batman was the voice of reason. He gently lifted Robin from Wally’s arms.

“Mind my back,” Robin muttered as he was lifted and Wally wondered if that was where his friend was hurting, if so it would explain why he had turned himself over in Wally’s arms.

They went to the infirmary and Batman lay Robin down on the bed he had used the night before, on his front as requested.

The rest of the team -and Barbara- appeared shortly after in the doorway.

Robin turned to them and smiled as they appeared. He opened his mouth to say something but instead let out another cry of pain. This time when he did Wally noticed a dark red stain appearing on the back of his friend’s shirt.

“Rob you’re-”

Robin nodded and Wally decided it wasn’t particularly necessary to continue.

He grabbed his friends hand and the younger boy held him so tight it hurt, though Wally knew it must only a fraction of the pain the younger was in.

They all remained by Robin’s side in the infirmary for another hour and during that time a pair of dark feathered wings ripped their way out of the boy’s back. Wally could only imagine how much pain he must have been in but the younger hid it well.

Wally kept glancing at the time on his phone, trying to keep track of when the boy would have to leave them. At thirty six minutes past six, Robin sat up -with help- and attempted to get off the bed.

“What are you…” Wally began to ask him, realising the answer before he finished.

Dick turned to him with a sad sort of smile. “It’s time.”

Wally nodded and, with Dick’s direction, helped the boy back to the mission room of Mount Justice. The rest of them followed until they were all there and waiting for something to happen.

Dick hugged his father, who was actually willing to hug him back and in front of everyone and something about that action made his best friend’s leaving all too real to Wally. Dick turned to him next and gave him a quick hug which was over way too soon.

Then the boy walked over to someone standing in the middle of the mission room who had definitely not been there moments before. Wally looked over at Batman and saw a hint of surprise there which confirmed entirely to Wally that there had been no one there just now.

The figure wasn’t a person but just that. There was a woman’s figure with wings on her back standing there made of what looked like pure golden light. Was that what angels really looked like?

Robin stepped towards her and smiled up at her. She reached out towards him and he took her hand.

The moment he did he began to change, his body seemed to disappear before their eyes only to be replaced by the same golden light that made up the other angel.

When the transformation was complete, he turned back to his friends. Wally couldn’t help but thinking he seemed to glow even brighter than the girl standing next to him. Dick waved and Wally was sure that if he could make out the boy’s face he would have been smiling again.

Then Dick took the girls hand and just like that they were gone.


	14. Epilogue

He is nervous, there’s no other way around that. For the first time since he had stopped being mortal nearly a year ago he is actually afraid of something and that comes as a surprise to him when he realises it. Perhaps he hadn’t left everything mortal behind when he changed back after all.

The boy feels a hand holding his and turns to his sister beside him. She smiles softly at him and it expresses what words could not; it is going to be okay.

He takes a, completely unnecessary, deep breath before stepping through the archway in front of him. It is strange to see something so solid and with so much form here but he supposes it is only necessary. He steps through and when he does he can no longer see his sister and the comfort she had always provided him with.

He looks up and sees more of their kind surrounding him. They are even more intimidating than he had expected and made even more so by the masks that cover their faces so they are not even recognisable as his kin.

The one who stands before him in the centre speaks first.

“Well boy, you have come before us so speak.”

“I...I want to-”

“We already know why you are here.”

Now he was actually starting to get annoyed, he had met mortals like this before and honestly he couldn’t stand them when he was mortal so he doesn’t see why he should now.

“If you already know, then why should I need to say anything?!”

His shout has most of them looking up, they seem rather shocked someone would dare to speak to them that way, for a moment the boy feels a flutter of panic at the idea that he may be punished for his bout of temper.

Then he shakes his head, removing those thoughts and continues.

“He needs me, they all need us. I know we’re not meant to interfere with humans but can’t you see that we are needed now. Those rules were made a long time ago and are only there because someone got scared that if they did they'd mess things up and end up punished for it.”

He’s breathing heavily now. He doesn’t know how they’ll react but he doesn’t regret what he said. It’s too late now anyway.

“You should leave,” the main one speaks again.

The boy nods and turns to go.

“Wait.”

He turns to face the one who spoke.

“You show all that defiance and then obey unquestioningly when we go to ignore you.”

He studies her mask, trying to get some sense of her mood from behind it. She seems...impressed? He supposes all those years of training with Batman have paid off.

“If we comply to your request, what will you do?”

He smiles at her.

“I’ll help him. Him and anyone else who need it in any way I can.”

“It’s been a long time since we have had a Guardian on earth.”

The first one speaks up again. “Perhaps it is time for a new one.”

“You may consider your request accepted.”

Robin looks up at them and smiles. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading guys. I hope you all enjoyed the story.


End file.
